Thou Art a-Maze-ing
by Skaoi
Summary: For ScooterThyme. My prompt for the Oh Come All Ye Faithful Fic Exchange was "wrapping presents." Such a pleasure to put this together for everyone's favorite beta-reader. 3 This fic takes place during the holiday season of 2015. Because...reasons.


Maze scarcely has a moment to pocket her car keys before a small hand grabs hers and tugs her along. "Come on! We have to hurry!" Trixie calls excitedly.

"I'm sure there will still be...what did you call it? Wrapping paper?...in the store when we get there," she huffs in mock irritation. Even as the demon rolls her dark eyes, she feels the child's joy reaching for her like the tentacles of some dread oceanic beast.

"But Mommy and Lucifer will get home soon and we have to finish!" Trixie pleads.

Maze almost offers to allow the little girl to wrap presents in _her_ bedroom then realizes that was probably not the best idea. "Why don't we just tell your mother to close her eyes when we walk through the apartment?" she asks.

Trixie stops and gives Maze a look that has no business on the face of an eight-year old. She raises her eyebrows, tilts her chin slightly down and looks up through her eyelashes. Askance.

"Fine!" Maze capitulates with a huff. "What are we looking for?"

Point made, Trixie's face brightens again, "Well, Mom loves Dr. Who. That Scottish guy, the Tenth Doctor is her favorite." She lowers her voice to a conspirator's whisper, "She told me she wants to ruffle his hair." She giggles as she tugs Maze's hand again, "So, Daddy helped me find a Bluetooth speaker that looks like the TARDIS so she can play her music wherever she wants. She can carry it to the kitchen or play it in her room!"

"What's a...TARDIS?" Maze asks in confusion.

That earns an impressive eye roll. "Really? Even _I_ know what it is, Maze, and I'm only eight. It stands for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space" and it's the phone booth that The Doctor travels around time in." She leans forward and grins, "It's bigger on the inside."

Maze rolls her own eyes, "Whatever. As long as I don't have to suffer with what your mother calls music..."

"Anyway!" Trixie continues enthusiastically, "I want to wrap it up with something special. Doctor Who wrapping paper! And blue and silver ribbons."

Maze frowns, "How do you know this store has that stuff?"

Trixie looks at her like she's simple, "I have the internet, Maze. I searched for it." She stops herself and takes a deep breath, suddenly growing shy. "We got you and Lucifer presents, too. But I'm not telling what because it's a surprise. Can you help me pick out wrapping paper for Lucifer? Mommy is getting yours."

Maze looks down, surprised, "Sure. He likes red." _Seems we have some shopping to do. What to get for my roommate's kid?_ she wonders to herself.

Oblivious to her friend's sudden dilemma, Trixie releases Maze's hand as they enter the store and races ahead. "Wait!" Maze barks and the girl stops in her tracks. "If you get lost or end up leaving with someone else, your mom will have to arrest me for killing someone. Don't want that, right?"

Trixie solemnly shakes her head back in forth, "Noooo..." she answers quietly.

The demon smirks. "Good," she looks around, "Besides, I never go shopping and I'm pretty sure I'd get lost in here. You look like you know where you're going."

The girl smiles and takes Maze's hand again, "I do! This way!"

An hour later, Maze and Trixie exit the store with rolls of paper, yards of ribbon, invisible tape, and tissue paper. The demon's head is screaming and as they load the car, she decides they need to make a pitstop. "Hey, little human, want some hot cocoa?" she asks.

Trixie bounces again, her eyes giant, chocolate saucers, "Yeah!"

Maze navigates to the closest Beelzebean and they approach the counter where the girl bounces yet again while giving her order. The barista chuckles as she takes the name for the cup, then looks at the demon expectantly, "Your little sister is adorable. I don't think I've ever seen someone so excited for hot chocolate. What can I get started for you?"

The demon smirks as she looks down at Trixie then returns her gaze back to the bespectacled woman behind the counter. "Mexican Chile latte, with whip and extra cinnamon on top," she says. The woman nods, "Off the secret menu - good choice. Name?" the barista asks.

Maze smirks, "Mazikeen." The barista pauses then blinks before looking back up with a smile, "That's a beautiful name!" She blushes a touch, "Can you help me with the spelling? I'd like to get it right."

Feeling oddly charmed, Maze complies then steps to the side with Trixie while they wait. As the barista begins to make their order, her manager approaches and berates her for the restroom being out of order. The woman tries to explain but the manager's voice grows in volume until everyone in the cafe turns to stare. Tears in her eyes, she hands Maze and Trixie their drinks. Her shoulders are slouched and exhaustion is written across her face. This is obviously not the first time this has happened.

Maze reaches into her pocket and hands a card to the woman, "Forget this jerk. You're great with customers and can obviously mix a drink - you have a new job. Come to Lux tomorrow night - I'll train you behind the bar." She leans forward and winks, "MUCH better tips, too." She looks up at the manager and does nothing to stop the animalistic growl that erupts from her chest while her dark eyes and posture make it abundantly clear he should consider himself lucky that's _all_ she decides to do. He pales then busies himself at the register. Her point made, she guides Trixie out the door to the car.

They arrive home to discover, much to their chagrin, Chloe and Lucifer are both at the apartment. Maze points at the door, "Tell Lucifer to distract your mom so I can get this stuff into your room."

Trixie seems uncertain about the plan, "But it's a surprise for him, too!"

Maze grins and gives her a wink, "He'll be busy with your mom, right? Neither of them will see anything."

Trixie's curls bounce as she jumps up and down with excitement, "Right!" She opens the door and squeezes into the apartment. Lucifer is rummaging in the kitchen but her mother is nowhere to be found. Seeing her opportunity, she runs over to him and gestures for him to lean down so she can whisper, "I need you to distract Mommy. Me and Maze got wrapping paper for her present but I don't want her to see it."

Lucifer's eyebrows come down as he considers the problem, then a broad grin splits his face as his eyes light up. "I shall distract your mother in her bedroom so as to not alert her to your machinations. Will that suffice, spawn?"

Trixie's face scrunches as she tries to make out what he's saying. Between his accent and all those big words he uses, he can be hard to understand sometimes. But, he seems to think it will work, so, "Sure!" she nods enthusiastically.

He nods, "Right. Give me just a moment, a'right?" She gives a quick nod, "Okay!"

Lucifer stands up and straightens his jacket as he strides with purpose toward Chloe's bedroom. The detective is in her daughter's room and sees him pass by, "Lucifer, why are you going in my room?"

"Well, Detective, I understand that gifts are customary for the approaching holiday, so I thought I'd rummage a bit to get a sense of your taste in..." he explains.

"Lucifer!" Chloe yells as she hot-foots it to her bedroom. "Get out of that drawer!"

"Ooooh...this is lovely," he comments from down the hall.

Seeing her chance, Trixie opens the front door and ushers Maze in. The demon stealthily creeps into the child's bedroom and deposits their purchases in the closet before Chloe comes back out.

"But, Detective...!" comes Lucifer's plaintive cry. "How will I know..."

"You don't need to get me anything," Chloe huffs in exasperation. "Just..." she shoves him into the hallway, "Out!"

Seeing Trixie and Maze coming out of the girl's bedroom, Lucifer looks quite pleased with himself and tosses them a wink. Mission accomplished.

Chloe looks up to see her daughter and the demon, "Oh, you're back. Great. I was about to start dinner." Lucifer takes that as his cue to leave, and Maze walks with him to his car, "They got us presents. What are we supposed to do?"

The tall man grins as he reaches into his breast pocket for the ubiquitous wad of cash and hands it to her, "Reciprocate, of course." His grins turns lascivious, "You take care of the gift to our dear young Beatrice and I'll take care of the detective. Deal?"

Maze snorts, "Deals aren't my thing, remember?"

He huffs and rolls his eyes, "Very well. A wager, then, to see whose gift is more on point. I win and you come help out at Lux on New Year's Eve."

Maze gives a sharp nod, "Fine. I win and _you_ cook New Year's dinner. Over here." She leans forward with a pointed look, "No catering."

He grins happily, _this is too easy_. "Never pegged you for a sucker, Maze, but you're on. Good luck. You'll need it."

Maze smiles and shrugs, "We'll see. Might want to get your sourdough started." She stuffs the cash into her jacket pocket and struts back into the apartment. An hour later, dinner has been consumed and dirty dishes cleared away. Trixie hops up and grabs Maze by the hand, "Mommy, can Maze help with my project tonight? Please, please?"

Chloe looks at her daughter then turns her gaze to the demon, looking for signs of mischief. "Do you mind, Maze?" she asks. The other woman shrugs, "I will assist the small human with her assignment. You hang out and read a book or something. Whatever it is you...do when you're not working."

The detective smiles, "Honestly, I'm going to take the opportunity to soak in the bathtub. I'll be out in an hour or so."

"Perfect!" Trixie chirps. Maze gives her a sharp look, "I mean, thanks, Mommy!" Trixie amends as she drags Maze into her room. Chloe shakes her head and heads to her en suite.

Trixie closes her bedroom door then dives into her closet for the wrapping paper and her mom's present. The dark blue wrapping paper is covered in Daleks with the word "Celebrate!" emblazoned everywhere and Trixie picked out a pretty, silver fabric ribbon to go with it.

Maze sits on the girl's bed, "Okay, now what?" she asks. "I've never done this before."

Trixie stares at the demon, her big brown eyes grow even larger, "You've _never_ wrapped a present before? Wow! I've seen Mommy do it - and she's really good at it - and she's helped me before, but I haven't done it by myself yet."

Maze's eyebrows come down as she considers the roll of paper and ribbons. "How hard can it be?" she asks as she reaches for the paper. "Do we roll the paper around the speaker?" she asks.

Trixie nods, "Yeah, sort of. And we need to cut it 'cause it's too big." Her expression falls into something Maze figured out recently means she's sad, "What's wrong?"

"I'm not supposed to use scissors," she replies.

"Scissors?" Maze asks. "What for?" She reaches to the small of her back and pulls out a dagger, "This is sharper than any pair of scissors."

Trixie's eyes light up and she bounces on the balls of her feet, "Cool!" She reaches for it but Maze pulls it away, "You don't get to use this, either, small one. I'll cut the paper, alright?"

The girl's face falls again, "Allllriiiight."

"Hey," Maze says, "You wanted me to help, right?"

Trixie nods, a rueful smile, "Yeah. Okay."

Maze eyes the paper to set up her plan of attack. The box they are wrapping has six sides, _so that means six slices of paper, right?_ She has Trixie unroll the paper then uses her dagger to precisely cut pieces of paper to fit each of the six sides, "There," she says. "Now what?"

Trixie gives the scraps a dubious look, "I don't think you're supposed to do it that way."

The demon scowls and points at the carnage, "What do you mean? Six sides. Six pieces of paper."

Trixie shakes her head, "Nuh-uh." She rolls out more paper on the bed and sets the box on it, "I think you're supposed to do it like this." She pulls the paper around then secures it with a piece of tape. "Yeah. I think Mommy does it like that." She scrunches up her face again, pursed lips pulled over to one side and one eye squinting. She pulls the roll of paper out a little more then points at it, "Can you cut this for me?"

"No problem," Maze replies. A flick of the wrist and the deed is done. "Thanks!" Trixie can see it coming together and turns the box sideways. The face-scrunch is back, "I don't know how to close up the sides. It's so neat when Mommy does it."

Maze cocks her head as she looks at the problem, then she shrugs, "But your mother isn't doing this one. You are. How do _you_ want to do it?"

The girl considers for another long minute before her face lights up, "I know!" She closes the paper on one side so that the paper comes in then flares out again. "Can you hold this?" she asks Maze. "Sure," comes the answer as the woman reaches out her hand to hold the paper closed.

Trixie finds the roll of ribbon and unravels a length of it. She holds it up in front of Maze, "Can you cut this with one hand?" she asks.

Maze smiles as she raises her blade, "Of course," she replies then slices the silvery fabric. Trixie winds it around the paper next to Maze's hand then has the demon let go. Trixie ties a simple knot and pulls it tight then very slowly and methodically, ties it into a bow. "There!" she cheers. "I did it!"

Maze can't help but smile with her, "So you did. Now for the other side." They make short work of it and the box is tucked safely back into Trixie's closet. She hops onto the bed then puts her hand up to collect a high-five from her demonic assistant.

A week later, the denizens of Hell join the Decker-Espinoza family for Christmas. Dan is tickled by Lucifer's gift of the Funny Sock of the Month Club. The first pair is black and has mimes on it. Dan shakes his head and laughs, "Hey, thanks, man!"

The Decker ladies surprise Lucifer with a rare edition of Friedrich Nietzsche's _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_ and Maze receives a dark purple leather trench coat. Trixie points out all the pockets, "so you can keep stuff when you're chasing bad guys!"

Trixie hops up and runs to her room, quickly returning with the present she and Maze wrapped. Chloe's eyes light up and she laughs when she sees the wrapping paper. "Did you do this yourself, Monkey?" she asks as she ruffles her daughter's hair.

"Nuh-uh, Mommy," Trixie replies and points to Maze. "Maze helped me! She cut stuff." Chloe hugs her daughter and smiles at her roommate, "It's beautiful, thank you." Maze huffs in an attempt to sound annoyed, "The paper isn't the present, Decker."

The detective smiles and nods, "I know. But the effort put into it is also a gift that I appreciate." With that said, she proceeds to carefully unwrap the ribbons from each side then she delicately peels the tape from the paper where it's being held closed.

Lucifer growls in frustration, "Get ON with it already, Detective. We're all gathering dust waiting for you to unveil your spawn's surprise."

Chloe flashes an evil grin then proceeds to open the package even more slowly, tying the silver ribbons into her long, blonde hair. Finally, the gift is revealed and she gives Trixie a big hug, "This is great! Thank you, honey! I can't wait to connect my phone to it and start playing music." She turns to Dan and silently mouths " _Thank you._ " Parents know who really gets the gifts that come from the children.

Speaking of children, it's finally time for the Hellions to bestow their gifts upon the Decker ladies. Lucifer is too excited to wait, so Maze lets him go first. He pulls a small wrapped box out of his coat and presents it to Chloe with a nervous smile, "I hope you like it, Detective." He smiles down at Trixie then returns his gaze to Chloe, "Your spawn provided me with some insight."

Maze arches one eyebrow, _Jewelry? How...traditional._

Chloe opens the box and Lucifer grins with delight as he watches her destroy the light blue wrapping paper with almost maniacal glee. Finally, the box is free and Chloe opens it to find a... _please be silver and not platinum..._ charm bracelet. "Lucifer, it's beautiful!" she coos as she picks it up to examine it.

He smiles, pleased she likes it, "Not so immune to my charms now, are you, Detective?" He winks at her and is doubly pleased to note the blush climbing up her cheeks.

She fingers each of the baubles, her smile growing with each discovery as she frantically hopes to herself the stones are not real. There's a pistol ( _what stone is that - diamonds don't come in black, do they?_ ), a shoe encrusted with... _please be CZ_ , enameled spacer beads that exactly match the color of her eyes, a TARDIS ("how did you know?!") encrusted with... _please don't be real sapphires_ , a sheriff's star, and a pair of feathers folded into each other such that they form the shape of a heart.

"I..." she stammers. _This cost a fortune. I can't accept it_ , she thinks desperately until she looks up into his face to see the bald-faced desire in his eyes that he's pleased her. A smile lights up her entire face as she holds her wrist out for him to put it on for her, "Lucifer, this is...gosh. It's gorgeous! And so thoughtful. I love it!" Once the bracelet is secure, she leans over and gives him a hug and peck on the cheek. "Thank you!" she gushes.

His smile is equally brilliant as he feels warmth crawl over his own cheeks, "My genuine pleasure, my dear," he responds softly. He turns to give a small nod to Maze, _Game. On_.

The demon smirks in reply as she reaches into her own jacket for Trixie's gift. She withdraws a black envelope with silver stars and planets emblazoned on it and hands it to the child. Trixie looks confused.

"Open it," Maze says softly, dark eyes twinkling.

Trixie opens the beautiful envelope carefully and pulls out an engraved invitation from the Mount Wilson Observatory. She reads it aloud, "Please join us May 30, 2016 for a costumed gala to celebrate the inauguration of Miss Beatrice Espinoza, First President of Mars. Themed snacks and beverages will be provided while we enjoy Mars' closer-than-usual proximity to Earth on this date."

Trixie blinks, still apparently confused. Maze laughs, "You're being made the First President of Mars and this is a party to celebrate."

The girl's eyes pop open and her jaw drops, "Really!?" She jumps up and starts running around the apartment, screaming with delight, disturbing the Hellions in the process.

Lucifer scowls at Maze, " _Now_ look what you've done. She's...having a seizure or something."

Chloe and Dan laugh as they look at Maze, "This is legit?"

Maze nods and looks at Trixie with concern, "Yeah. I mean, as much as someone CAN be made President of Mars. Is...um...is she...happy?"

The parents laugh again as they watch their daughter bouncing off the walls and furniture with great affection, "Oh yeah. This is amazing," Dan replies.

"Maze, this is great, really, but you don't have to throw a party for her," Chloe explains.

Maze's eyebrows go up and she raises her chin defiantly, "She wants to be First President of Mars. Why not? She can invite twenty friends and they'll get to take turns looking through the telescope at Trixie's planet."

Chloe shakes her head in disbelief, "This is...really, Maze...this is the coolest present ever. How can we thank you?"

Maze winks at Lucifer then grins at the detective, "Be really hungry on New Year's Day."

Lucifer smiles and gives a polite nod, "Well-played, Maze. Well-played."


End file.
